The Gold Sheet

THE PLAY: East Carolina -7.5 (-110)

East Carolina earned a modest upset win last year, winning 22-7 in Boca Raton as a 7.5-point road 'dog. We're essentially looking at the same spread with the roles reversed this year. East Carolina is coming off a 56-34 thumping of Temple, and the seeds for that win were planted the week before. The Pirates fell behind 31-0 to Army, but the purple-and-gold showed some nice fight in the second half of that contest, scoring four touchdowns and sneaking through the backdoor for those that grabbed ECU at the closing number. That slow start against the Knights cost head coach Mike Houston his job, but the Pirates clearly responded well for interim coach Blake Harrell last week. It's that time of the year to start looking at bowl eligibility. Sitting at 4-4, East Carolina would be in good shape to clinch a postseason berth with a win over Florida Atlantic on Thursday. The same cannot be said for the Owls, who are 1-4 against the spread in their last five games. The Tom Herman experience has taken a big step back at FAU this season.